How much do you spend on your children at Christmas?

[Lilybetsey]

A FB thread about a woman who plans to spend £400 on each of her 5 children for Christmas got absolutely ripped to shreds.

My children are teenagers and I have spent about £300 on them, or main presents .. then I do an advent calendar each - usually things I have picked up over the year, costs about £100 each I think .

Doesn’t seen massively excessive ? What do you spend ?

not sure how the gifts people chose to give their children is "showy"

If you refer to social media, I actually like the pics of the Christmas trees with all the presents on Christmas Eve once the kiddies are in bed. You can't know if people just bought lots of tat from the pound shop or expensive gifts, it really doesn't matter, the whole set up just looks cosy.

When DS was 1 we spent £20 last year at 17 we bought him a PC for 1.5k. He built it himself though so the actual set up built is worth about 2k.

Usually it’s about £100 to £200.

I don't set a limit either it's just depending what they want. My teenager last year had £400 spent on an iPad and my toddler only £100.
This year I've spent £200 on each of them. Plus teenager had advent calendar for £65 and 4 year old advent for £30

€500 on my 16 yr old ds. Would never go into debt for Christmas

Shocked at how much you all spend!!
£100 maybe. £150 max.

Usually 200 to 300 pounds. I have spent more in the past but I try and keep the amount down now.

About £175 each, age 6&4, £40 on the baby. We don’t buy loads the rest of the year

I honestly have no idea but I don't think it would even be 100 and there seems to be loads. We are quite well off in comparison to most but I just don't see the need for mounds of presents and neither do my kids!

£75 per child for 3 kids aged 3, 5 and 7.

@Amber2019 ah, you sound like a lovely mother treating your children but I'm sure they're so appreciative anyway. You don't need to buy their love :) £800 sounded crazy to me as my parents never spent more than £100 on each my brother and I. I was always grateful- they both work all week too.

Hope you have a good Christmas, maybe explain the meaning of Christmas to your children so you don't have to feel like spending so much money every year- I'm sure they'll be grateful whatever they get.

@ihatehoney thank you, funnily enough my parents spent a lot on me, guess thats where I've got it from. He is totally appreciative and understands i work hard to give him it all but i definitely wont be doing it with my youngest, the age gap is big enough that they wont know the difference, i hope 😮

2 dds 4 and 8. Around £500 on each of them but my husband has a good job and gets a good wage and we do do alot for charities throughout the year, were not greedy people. And our 2 dds would be just as happy if we had only spent £50 on each of them but we do it because we want to and not because we feel like we have to

Ashamed to say it's about £700 each. (5&7) we do go overboard but I guess it's because I have the income too and I had fuck all when I grew up. Hope they appreciate it, in reality they are probably spoilt but I can't help myself x

£150-£180 on teens
But I just had to buy DD2 a bloody new phone for £50 which annoyed me! She broke hers

I never spend more as I just don’t have it. DC get what they need to some extent during the year in fact DD2 struggles to think of ideas for what she wants as she has plenty of ‘stuff’

I am also lucky in that they haven’t really grown at all for at least 2 years so all clothes and shoes last so much longer

Oh and I bought DD2 a camera she wanted which is most of her present
DD1 wanted clothes

@ihatehoney an £800 spend on teenagers is easily done.

An iPhone could cost that by itself.

@MrsPinkCock though you could get an iPhone cheaper as opposed to buying it outright (eg get a mobile phone contract with one). iPhones are so expensive nowadays, I wouldn't dream of buying on outright for myself! Let alone a teen who will probably lose it/crack the screen!

I could spend £800 if it was an iPhone but I would struggle to spend £800 on DD2 for anything else

Why did I read this? I now feel mean and right

Yr 3 old- £30
6- £45
8-£55

I honestly believe they’ll be happy with the bits. Little one has a doctor bag and digger, middle one a basic MP3 player and a minecraft toy set (v reduced), oldest second hand but massive dream Lego set, books (one signed by author he loves) and a plane he massively wanted in new condition from charity shop. Another £8 between them in secret Santa bits then a bit of child plate indulgence.

I guess we are just not a household of expensive stuff at all. We will have more in the way of experiences, just not at Xmas

Mean and tight (not right!)

About £700 this year. DS has been learning to play the drums and has really taken to it, so is getting a drum kit (they are not cheap). I have been looking on FB sales pages for months to try to get a second hand set, but no luck.

This year around the £600 mark, but she is an only child so we only have the one child to buy for, and by the time she’s got the laptop she’s asked for you can easily spend £400 on bits and bobs that she wants.

I think it’s fairly normal to spend that amount if you can afford it, even the parents I know who aren’t particularly well off spend 3-400 on one child.

@ihatehoney

That’s what we did for our DC. It seems like a saving but the overall 2 year contract price is usually far more eye watering

About £700 for my son

£60 on my 2 year old, including some items that he needs. Would have been closer to £100 but i bought his 'big' gift second hand for £8 instead of £45. Making the most of being able to get away with this!